Multiple people have asked me to do a tutorial on how to paint a gun. Now, I am not going to go into how to do digital, woodland, epic blue and yellow tiger stripez that are on COD omnomnom, or anything like that. I’m going to do a basic two-tone. If this turns out well and you have any requests, please feel free to PM me. As long as I have the time and a gun to do it on, I will be happy to help out.

Note: This tutorial was done on a VFC SCAR. You will typically want to disassemble your gun before painting, and take out the internals and take away the parts you don’t want painted. I have done this for this gun as you will see. This was my first time disassembling this rifle, I love how simple it was.

Now, a word on paint:
I will use either the Rust-o-leum Camo spray paint line, or the MATTE Krylon spray paint.
After I finish with the painting, I will put on a matte clear coat. Typically Krylon (I prefer theirs) or Rust-o-leum.
Preparation for your painting area:
I personally put down a large mat of newspaper in my garage floor so you don't get any paint on the floor/painting surface. Wherever you decide to paint, be sure to have plenty of ventilation as you don’t want to be breathing all those toxic fumes. Just find a level, clean spot to do this. I recommend having it be a covered area and away from high traffic areas.

Prep for your gun:
First off, if the surface you are painting is slick, whether it be metal or plastic, you should rub it down with some fine grit sandpaper; around the 400 area, maybe a bit rougher. After you do that, clean it with alcohol to get rid of grease and then wash it off with some soapy water to get rid of all the dust and left over alcohol. Let it dry completely.
Then it’s time to get some painter's tape and tape off all the areas you don’t want to be painted. This will include; interiors (if on scopes, glass, caps, etc.), body pins, and all those moving parts on your gun that may get messed up with an extra layer of paint...you know, all that good stuff.
I would go into more depth on this, but it really depends on what gun you have.

Painting:
Make sure all the parts you don't want painted are taped off.

Make sure that your surface covering (newspaper, etc.) is not jumbled so that there are no cracks/spaces for the paint to get through.

Lay down your gun pieces making sure there is enough space so the over-spray doesn't reach the other gun pieces. Get out your paint.

Don't put a big glob of paint on, the areas that are taped will look terrible and will be uneven if you put a thick coat on.
Keeping it around 4 inches away, spray down an even coat. Let it dry. I typically wait about 20 minutes, but it depends on what brand you use.
Spray on the second coat, rotate so you get every spot. Let dry.

I will bring it outside to look at it under bright light to see if I missed any spot.
If you want, and it needs it, put on a third coat. Let dry. Pretty repetitive huh?

Get out your clear-coat and repeat the above steps. I will let this dry for longer than the typical spray paint. You DO NOT want to mess this part up.

After you get the colors down, and let it dry, carefully take off the tape. When I say carefully, I don't mean "TEAR IT UP!!!" in your excitement to see your newly painted masterpiece. Be careful and patient, you don't want to make any jagged lines.

After you get all the tape off, re-assemble your gun, get some good pictures of it, post them in the "Painted guns thread" and enjoy!

I hope you liked my tutorial, and that it has helped you with your adventure into painting.

How to stencil:
To start off, you want to use all of the preparation steps that were in the first tutorial.

I did this on an M4 mid-cap mag in woodland camouflage as a special request. If you are painting a mag, take out the insides so you just have the empty shell.

This is what you need:
• Wax paper
• Sharp knife/new box cutter/box cutter blade (I used a Gerber knife and a box cutter blade wrapped in duct tape except for the tip.)
• Painter’s tape
• Spray paint and finish (Color depends on what style you are doing. I used the black as a base coat, tan, dark brown and dark green for woodland.)
• Marker/penSteps:

1. Lay out wax paper.

2. Take some painters tape and lay it on, sticky side down. Depending on how big you want the stencils to be, layer tape side-by-side while overlapping one edge to make it bigger.

3. Take your marker/pen and draw out the stencil, you can Google the camo you are trying to do for inspiration pictures.

4. Using your cutting tool, cut the stencils out and apply them to random parts of the object you are painting. Remember that you don’t want it to appear uniform.

5. Spray on your first color. You want to give each color enough time to dry before spraying on the next coat (I started with black, tan, brown, and then green).

6. Once it dries apply more stencils, but don’t take off the old ones. After each color you want to just layer on new stencils, trying not to overlap them.

Thank you! Glad to see that you got it done finally, and rewarded with a sticky! Just one thing, I have learned that sometimes, the paint will flake off inside of the magwell from friction, and causes gunk to eventually get into your gun/barrel. I never paint my mags where they go in the gun (Just mask it off), but they don't look as cool.

Thank you! Glad to see that you got it done finally, and rewarded with a sticky! Just one thing, I have learned that sometimes, the paint will flake off inside of the magwell from friction, and causes gunk to eventually get into your gun/barrel. I never paint my mags where they go in the gun (Just mask it off), but they don't look as cool.

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Good tip, and thank you.
I dont use that mag anyways since it is broken. I just used it for the tutorial.
If I ever paint one for use I will keep that in mind.
Glad you liked it.

While I am waiting for a couple new guns to arrive I will be doing a new wood-land tutorial soon. This will be able to be used in different environments, but the key steps and lessons are in sponge-painting, and pattern. I don't mean sponge painting as in dabbing it on, but I can do that in the future if I get requests.

You will also be seeing a winter camouflage around when we get snow up here.

Very good my friend, this is near exact same process I go through when paint guns. I can attest to NOT painting when it is getting dark out. I learned that through mistake when I first started airsoft... :/

I have never had an issue with stickiness. It all depends on what paint you use, some is crap and is terrible and sticks, while others are good.
As I said, I use the Rust-o-leum and Krylon Camo series.

I have never had an issue with stickiness. It all depends on what paint you use, some is crap and is terrible and sticks, while others are good.
As I said, I use the Rust-o-leum and Krylon Camo series.

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Thnx ill try that. Some of the gun painting I have done has come out kinda sticky

Hey Finalencounter, this is a great thread, very helpful indeed. Just one thing: I like the look of weathered guns, so if I want the paint to naturally chip and get scratched over time, are there any specific paints to use and should I still use a clear coat?

Thanks,
Well, there are a couple of things you could do. Or combine these together. When you are prepping your gun, don't sand the body, keep it smooth. You can skip the clear coat, and if you want it to be more preserved when you get the wear how you want it, you can use the clear coat then.
I'm getting closer to getting an airbrush set up, so I'll be practicing with that.

Excited to see it! This thread actually got me excited to paint my M4 after I do a few external and internal upgrades. I have 2 questions though, do you do anything to your pieces to prepare them for the paint? Sanding, sand blasting, etc?